Balfour lands £500m Suffolk maintenance deal

Councillors will now be recommended to rubber stamp the deal installing Balfour Beatty Living Places who are preferred bidder.

Balfour will be responsible for the design and implementation of highway maintenance and improvement works, winter gritting, street lighting, traffic signals and bridge works throughout the county.

Balfour beat off competition from Amey, Carillion/Mott MacDonald, Enterprise Mouchel and MGWSP (May Gurney/WSP) during the nine month tender race.

The contract is due to start next April and will be in place for at least five years.

The key objective will be to achieve £2m of recurring revenue savings in year 2013-14 and to help the council’s transport department achieve efficiency savings of 1.5% per year.

Councillor Guy McGregor, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for roads and transport, said “We are committed to ensuring the best service is delivered to residents, businesses and road users across the county throughout this contract.

“As preferred bidder, Balfour Beatty Living Places is the company which submitted the very best bid both in terms of price and quality. It will provide excellent value for money for the residents of Suffolk.”

Around 200 Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council staff will be transferred, under TUPE rules, to Balfour Beatty Living Places next year.